An airline trade publication says there is more to Delta Air Lines Inc.’s (NYSE: DAL) decision to cut Dubai routes than the carrier’s stated reason of “overcapacity on US routes to the Middle East operated by government-owned and heavily subsidized airlines."

There is certainly no love lost between Atlanta-based Delta and Gulf carriers. On Wednesday, Delta said it would cease its Atlanta-Dubai service from Feb. 11, 2016, adding Dubai flights will be “redeployed to other transatlantic markets where it can compete on a level playing field that’s not distorted by subsidized state-owned airlines.”

Following Delta’s announcement Wednesday, ATW published an article online titled “The real reason Delta is pulling out of Dubai.”

ATW writes:

Delta is blaming its pullout on the Gulf carriers on which it has waged war for many months over alleged subsidies and Open Skies compliance.

But hang on a moment… how many flights do Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways operate to Atlanta? The shocking answer is: zero. So Delta has exclusivity on Atlanta-Dubai, yet apparently can’t make a go of the route. Howso?

ATW says the answer lies, at least in part, with these airline route maps: Delta route map and Emirates routemap. Delta’s 777 travels from Atlanta to Dubai, but from there (unless you transfer to Emirates), it’s a dead end, ATW writes.

Many people who fly from outside the Gulf states on one of three Gulf carriers are not going to Abu Dhabi, Doha or Dubai. The destination is often the sub-Indian continent: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and so on, all places where, as the Emirates route map shows, the Dubai carrier offers multiple city destinations, ATW reports.

Delta does not have a sub-Indian continent network (nor do any major U.S. airlines) and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International does not have any reach into the sub-Indian continent beyond Dubai, ATW says.

That changes next year when Qatar Airways begins Doha-Atlanta service. Qatar has a sub-Indian continent network. ATW adds.

“Delta fully knows this, of course," says ATW. "So it’s making a silk purse from a sow’s ear and using its Dubai pullout announcement for some grand-standing on its favorite political campaign: those terrible, passenger-stealing Gulf carriers!”